tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-100074742015-03-03T07:10:48.256-06:00Kiev Ukraine News BlogDaily news and other information from the city made famous around the globe by the "Maidan Revolution".Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.comBlogger10414125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-33528385569661803982015-03-03T02:08:00.000-06:002015-03-03T02:08:00.410-06:00Pro-Russian Rebels Train For More Fighting Despite Ukraine TruceDONETSK, Ukraine -- A ceasefire is broadly holding at last on the front line in eastern Ukraine, but fighters in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk are training for another round of clashes against government troops.
So-called volunteers of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republican guard fire their weapons during shooting training in Donetsk March 1, 2015.
Honing theirNicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-8087832962854985822015-03-03T01:18:00.000-06:002015-03-03T06:08:24.764-06:00Cease-Fires Haven’t Halted ‘Merciless Devastation Of Civilian Lives’ In Ukraine, U.N. SaysKIEV, Ukraine -- The civilian and military death toll in the conflict in eastern Ukraine is estimated to have surpassed 6,000, with hundreds killed in fighting in the past few weeks, according to a new report by the United Nations released Monday.
Soldiers of the Ukrainian armed forces sit in a self-propelled howitzer near Artemivsk, eastern Ukraine, on March 2, 2015.
The conflict Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-29940444228772477492015-03-03T00:49:00.000-06:002015-03-03T00:49:00.141-06:00Kerry Warns Russia On Ukraine As Death Toll Nears 6,000GENEVA, Switzerland -- Secretary of State John Kerry said cease-fire violations have continued in Ukraine and renewed warnings of additional sanctions against Russia on Monday, as the death toll from more than 10 months of fighting was set to pass 6,000.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, shakes hand with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov before a meeting on Monday in Geneva.Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-44184370569082619532015-03-03T00:15:00.000-06:002015-03-03T00:15:00.643-06:00Nemtsov’s Partner Says Russia Held Her Against Her WillKIEV, Ukraine -- They met three years ago, by some accounts on a vacation to Turkey, and soon enough became a couple.
Anna Duritskaya, a Ukrainian model and the girlfriend of Boris Nemtsov, witnessed his death.
Though she was less than half his age, Anna Duritskaya, a Ukrainian model, was often with Boris Nemtsov, a beleaguered Russian opposition leader, including on Friday evening, whenNicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-53330363137339545952015-03-02T01:13:00.000-06:002015-03-02T01:13:00.540-06:00Ukraine's Mariupol Holds Its Breath For Next Rebel MoveMARIUPOL, Ukraine -- Scanning the sky for incoming artillery fire has become a force of habit for Ukrainian beetroot-seller Svetlana Kumurzhi, who dived under her wooden stall in government-held Mariupol when shells rained down a month ago.
A woman walks past a burnt-out a store at a residential sector affected by shelling in Mariupol, a city on the Sea of Azov, eastern Ukraine.
While a Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-763115812143668342015-03-02T00:38:00.000-06:002015-03-02T00:38:00.793-06:00Ukraine Military Says Rebels Using Truce To RegroupKIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's military said on Sunday a ceasefire had been fully observed in eastern separatist territories overnight, but warned that pro-Russian rebels were using the truce to regroup for new attacks on government positions.
Members of the Ukrainian armed forces ride on an armoured personnel carrier near Artemivsk, eastern Ukraine, February 28, 2015.
A drop in violence andNicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-40496164986048780412015-03-02T00:10:00.000-06:002015-03-02T00:10:00.130-06:00Nemtsov And The Crisis In UkraineKIEV, Ukraine -- After the shock and grief associated with the sudden murder of Boris Nemtsov, the former Russian deputy Prime Minister under President Boris Yeltsin, speculation grew about who killed him.
Thousands marched in Nemtsov's memory two days after the opposition leader was killed in front of the Kremlin. Nemtsov had been set to lead a large rally against Putin's war in UkraineNicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-57494676354096376122015-03-01T07:17:00.003-06:002015-03-01T07:31:21.691-06:00Boris Nemtsov Joins List Of Dead Vladimir Putin CriticsMOSCOW, Russia - Russia’s top investigative body says it is looking for a motive in the slaying of prominent opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who joins at least six other critics of Vladimir Putin who have died since his first term as president.
Boris Nemtsov
Was shot several times in the back as he walked by a bridge near the Kremlin late Friday night, according to Russia’s Investigative Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-74477743151629871332015-03-01T06:19:00.000-06:002015-03-01T06:19:03.774-06:00Poroshenko: Boris Nemtsov Killed Over Evidence Linking Russia To Ukraine ConflictKIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Saturday Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was murdered because he planned to disclose evidence of Russia's involvement in Ukraine's separatist conflict.
Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down near the Kremlin, just a day before a planned Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-87353464492990628502015-03-01T00:05:00.000-06:002015-03-01T00:05:00.360-06:00Moscow Prepares For March Commemorating Murdered Russian Opposition LeaderMOSCOW, Russia -- Authorities are preparing for tens of thousands to march in central Moscow Sunday in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot to death late Friday after urging people to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
People gather at the site where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered, with St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin walls seen Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-15362819842255075542015-02-28T06:43:00.002-06:002015-02-28T06:43:16.370-06:00U.S. Intelligence-Sharing Leaves Ukraine In The DarkWASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. is providing spy-satellite imagery to Ukraine to help in its fight against Russia-backed rebels, but with a catch: the images are significantly degraded to avoid provoking Russia or compromising U.S. secrets.
Fighters of the Azov Battalion, a voluntary militia group fighting along with the Ukrainian army, take part in military exercises near the port city of Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-81887479616613517082015-02-28T06:18:00.000-06:002015-02-28T06:59:20.021-06:00Shelling Pauses In Ukraine As President Laments ‘Friend’ NemtsovKIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko expressed “shock” at the murder of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader gunned down on a sidewalk near the Kremlin overnight, whom he called a “bridge” between their countries.
Boris Nemtsov, who was critical of Putin's invasion of Ukraine, was shot in the back from a speeding car.
Artillery fell silent for the second time this Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-12337351098775329112015-02-28T05:25:00.000-06:002015-02-28T07:25:48.984-06:00Deep Mistrust Threatens Ukraine's Shaky CeasefireDONETSK, Ukraine -- From the narrow loop hole of a machine gun nest, a rebel fighter squinted towards no-man’s land and listened for the whump of artillery and the intermittent crackle of automatic weapon fire.
Pro-Russia rebels firing Russia-supplied weapons.
From these trenches, the war in eastern Ukraine is seen in almost exact mirror image to that in the west: it is the Ukrainians onNicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-1990476704644214752015-02-27T07:10:00.006-06:002015-02-27T07:10:34.168-06:00What Russia Wants: From Cold War To Hot WarLONDON, England -- The pens were on the table in Minsk, Belarus’s capital, for the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine to sign a deal to end a year-long war fuelled by Russia and fought by its proxies.
Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is part of a broader, and more dangerous, confrontation with the West.
But on February 12th, after all-night talks, they were put away.
“No goodNicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-13908700261971211062015-02-27T02:38:00.001-06:002015-02-27T02:38:08.445-06:00Ukraine To Pull Back Artillery From Edge Of Separatist ZoneKIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s military announced on Thursday that it would begin withdrawing some heavy artillery from areas bordering separatist-held territory in the country’s southeast under a cease-fire agreement negotiated this month.
Ukrainian forces on Thursday prepared to pull back from the area around Debaltseve, which is held by separatist fighters.
The announcement followed the Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-37662565872407496242015-02-27T02:01:00.000-06:002015-02-27T02:51:42.795-06:00Wesley Clark: Remember Rwanda. Arm UkraineWASHINGTON, DC -- In the old days of the post-Cold War world, the U.S. learned the hard way that when we could make a difference, we should.
A Ukrainian soldier stands in a truck pulling an anti-aircraft gun.
In Rwanda, we didn't, and 800,000 died.
In Bosnia, we tarried, and more than 100,000 died and 2 million were displaced before we acted.
It's time to take those lessons and now Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-54523948291142241002015-02-27T01:07:00.000-06:002015-02-27T03:08:03.730-06:00One Paramedic's War In Ukraine, From Maidan To DebaltseveKIEV, Ukraine -- A column of Ukrainian troop trucks rumbled across the frozen, pitted ground.
Alik Sardarian waits for injured soldiers outside Artyomovsk hospital.
Slowed by a full load of soldiers each, their drivers strained to see through mud-spattered windscreens in the early morning light.
Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers had started their retreat from the besieged city of Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-29504819411997365372015-02-26T07:00:00.001-06:002015-02-26T07:00:12.367-06:00Now Obama Must Arm UkraineWASHINGTON, DC -- Ukraine and its allies hope this month’s cease-fire deal with Russia and Russian-backed rebels brings relative calm to southeastern Ukraine.
Pro-Russian soldiers of Ukraine’s self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic ride in mobile artillery cannons on February 25, 2015.
But the Minsk agreement is deeply flawed, and there is every chance it may yet unravel, even if it Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-44483714491718207442015-02-26T06:28:00.000-06:002015-02-26T07:10:31.313-06:00Moscow Court Hands 'Death Sentence' To Hunger-Striking Ukrainian MPMOSCOW, Russia -- An appeals court in Moscow today refused to bring forward the trial date of the Ukrainian MP Nadiya Savchenko, who has been on hunger strike for over 70 days.
Ukrainian army pilot Nadezhda (Nadia) Savchenko looks out from a defendants' cage as she attends a hearing at the Basmanny district court in Moscow February 10, 2015.
The ruling could mean that Savchenko will dieNicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-29268433914489358272015-02-26T06:01:00.000-06:002015-02-26T07:22:01.489-06:00NATO Commander Warns About Deteriorating Situation In UkraineBRUSSELS, Belgium -- The fighting in eastern Ukraine is “getting worse every day” and Western efforts to deter Russian intervention are having little effect, NATO’s top military commander said Wednesday.
Gen. Philip M. Breedlove attends a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
In appearances on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon, Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, the Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-55962393420786667892015-02-25T07:43:00.000-06:002015-02-25T07:43:41.856-06:00John Kerry, Lindsey Graham Agree Putin's Lying About Russian Soldiers In Ukraine, Assad Is Iran's Puppet In SyriaWASHINGTON, DC -- Vladimir Putin is lying when he denies not having Russian troops in Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives at one of two Senate subcommittee hearings Tuesday. At one panel, he discussed the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Kerry was succinct when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked at a Senate hearing if "you agree withNicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-58111793247682637502015-02-25T07:01:00.003-06:002015-02-25T07:01:33.165-06:00Ukraine PM To Russia: 'Get Out Of Our Land'KIEV, Ukraine -- As the cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia looks shaky at best, the prime minister of Ukraine told CNBC that Russia was not withdrawing heavy weaponry from the east of the country and needed to end its "illegal invasion."
Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
"I have a key aspiration, and this is the aspiration of the entire Ukrainian nation: Russians, get out of Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-68825535987592354772015-02-25T06:33:00.000-06:002015-02-25T07:14:30.853-06:00Ukraine To Buy ‘Defensive’ Weapons In U.A.E., President SaysABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Ukraine said it would buy what it called defensive weapons from the United Arab Emirates, bypassing the West’s reluctance to provide arms to help Kiev’s forces against Russia-backed rebels.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko takes a selfie with an Emirati media representatives at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference, IDEX, in Abu Dhabi Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-19215314528324547912015-02-25T06:01:00.000-06:002015-02-25T07:29:07.874-06:00Ukraine Rebels Praise The Lord While Russia Passes The AmmunitionDEBALTSEVE, Ukraine — The Russian-backed rebels of the 7th Brigade of the Donetsk People’s Republic army have been flying a flag with the face of Jesus Christ on it since they went to war in eastern Ukraine in April.
On the front lines of the worst fighting here since World War II.
Now it’s flapping in the wind at a checkpoint between the mostly destroyed towns of Vuhlehirsk and Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10007474.post-77137107579327212452015-02-24T07:45:00.001-06:002015-02-24T07:45:06.004-06:00Analysis: Ukraine Forces Outmanned, Outgunned By Pro-Russian RebelsKIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's recent losses to separatist forces underscore how much its military is outmanned and outgunned by an adversary backed by Russian might and a willingness to commit troops and arms to the fight.
The wreckage of a Ukrainian army tank sits in Uhlehorsk near Debaltseve on Feb. 18, 2015.
Last week, Ukrainian national forces lost the strategic railway hub at Nicholashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11870310932017443794noreply@blogger.com0